graine

Forms

graine f (plural graines)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French graine, inherited from Vulgar Latin *grāna, the neuter plural of Latin grānum (“grain”), taken as a feminine singular.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} It is thus a collective doublet of grain.^[6][1] The oldest sense, “scarlet dye” (about 1150), is explained by the TLFi and Rey as a calque of the Arabic word for “a berry”, used figuratively of the cochineal insect from which the dye was made.^[2][4][7]

Cognate with Italian grana, Spanish grana and Old Occitan grana, which Bloch and Wartburg find less specialised in the sense “seeds” than the French word.^[3][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1150 in the Charroi de Nîmes in the sense “scarlet dye”; the sense “seed” follows in Chrétien de Troyes's Cligès (1176), there used figuratively.^[2][10]

Semantic evolution

The sense “cochineal, scarlet” was common in French until the 18th century, and is still usual in Italian and Spanish.^[3] The botanical sense, the part of a plant that gives a new plant, became the main one.^[4][2] By likeness of shape the word named the eggs of the silkworm (1600, Olivier de Serres).^[2][4]

Figurative uses apply the word to people, mostly with contempt: meschante graine “bad lot” (1690), later mauvaise graine, and graine de followed by a noun (recorded by Littré in 1866).^[2][10][4] Monter en graine, said of plants that run to seed (1660), was used from 1690 of girls who grew old unmarried.^[10][4] En prendre de la graine “to learn from someone's example” dates from the early 20th century.^[10] In popular speech graine, taken as “wheat” and so “bread”, gave casser la graine “to have a bite to eat” (1926).^[4][7]

Timeline

• c. 1150 – The Charroi de Nîmes uses it for scarlet dye.^[2]
• 1176 – Chrétien de Troyes uses it of seed, figuratively.^[2][10]
• 1600 – Olivier de Serres writes of la graine des vers à soie.^[2][8]
• 1660 – Monter en graine is recorded by Oudin.^[10]
• 1690 – Furetière records meschante graine “bad lot”.^[2][10]
• 1866 – Littré records mauvaise graine and graine de + noun.^[10]
• 1926 – Casser la graine “to eat” is recorded.^[4][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A seed: the part of a flowering plant, inside the fruit, that grows into a new plant; also seed taken collectively.^[6][2][11]
2. The eggs of the silkworm.^[4][10]
3. Monter en graine: of a plant, to bolt or run to seed.^[6][11][8]
4. (figurative, pejorative) Mauvaise graine, graine de + noun: a young person seen as likely to turn out badly.^[4][10][8]
5. En prendre de la graine: to take someone as an example.^[10][1]
6. (Quebec, slang) The penis.^[1]

Word family

• grainothèque
• grener
• grenu
• égrener
• engrener

Related words

• grainier
• grange
• grenier
• grain
• Latin grānum

Usage notes

The Grand Robert gives graine in casser la graine “to eat” (1926) a headword of its own, either a metaphor from graine “seed, grain” for “bread” or a back-formation from the slang verb grainer.^[7] Rey treats it as a figurative use of the same word.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 225b
6. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)